US says it is ‘ready to sign’ minerals deal ‘this afternoon’
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said Washington is “ready to sign” a minerals deal with Ukraine.
At a cabinet meeting at the White House, Donald Trump was asked by a reporter about the deal, which he then directed to Bessent.
“Our side is ready to sign,” Bessent said, adding that the Ukrainians had “decided last night to make some last-minute changes”. He added:
We’re sure they will reconsider that, and we are ready to sign the afternoon.
Bessent said “nothing has been removed” from the agreement.
It’s the same agreement that we agreed to on the weekend. No changes on our side.
Key events
Summary of the day so far
It’s 10.15pm in Kyiv and Moscow, and 3.15pm in Washington. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
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Ukraine and the US said they were ready to sign a minerals deal, amid reports that a last-minute obstacle injected uncertainty into the timing. “Our side is ready to sign. The Ukrainians decided last night to make some last-minute changes,” US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told reporters. “We’re sure that they will reconsider that and we are ready, if they are.”
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Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, is on her way to the US to sign the minerals deal, according to a senior source in the Ukrainian presidency. Ukraine’s prime minister, Denis Shmyhal, said on Wednesday that the reworked deal would be signed within the next 24 hours and would have to be ratified by the Ukrainian parliament. But later reports claimed the US was pushing Ukraine to sign additional documents, but that Kyiv felt they were not ready yet.
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Vladimir Putin said some small groups of Ukrainian soldiers were still holed up in basements and hideouts in Russia’s western Kursk region. Speaking at an event in Moscow on Wednesday, the Russian leader said radio intercepts suggested that the few Ukrainians left behind were asking commanders to urgently evacuate them to safety.
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The EU is preparing a “plan B” on how to keep economic sanctions against Russia should the US abandon Ukraine peace talks and seek rapprochement with Moscow, according to the bloc’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas. “We see signs that they are contemplating whether they should leave Ukraine and not try to get a deal with the Russians because it’s hard,” Kallas told the Financial Times.
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Russia and North Korea have begun construction of a road bridge between the two countries as part of an effort to strengthen their strategic partnership, Russia’s prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, said. It comes after South Korean lawmakers said about 600 North Korean troops have been killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, held a call on Wednesday during which the Ukrainian leader congratulated Carney on his victory in the Canadian federal elections on Monday.
Zelenskyy, in a post on X, said he and Carney discussed steps that could “bring us closer to a full, unconditional ceasefire and a dignified peace.”
We also talked about the prospects of Canada’s G7 presidency this year and our cooperation within the Coalition of the Willing. We are preparing various formats of cooperation in the near future.
“Thank you, Canada, for your support. We are counting on effective cooperation,” Zelenskyy added.
The EU is preparing a “plan B” on how to keep economic sanctions against Russia should the US abandon Ukraine peace talks and seek rapprochement with Moscow.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign and security policy, told the Financial Times:
We see signs that they are contemplating whether they should leave Ukraine and not try to get a deal with the Russians because it’s hard.
Kallas said there was a “plan B” to maintain economic pressure on Russia should Hungary block the rollover of EU economic sanctions in July. She stressed that Brussels was still focused on keeping all EU member states aligned.
There is also a plan B but we have to work for plan A; because otherwise you concentrate on plan B and then that will happen.
Here’s more on the reported “last-minute hurdles” that appeared amid reports that Ukraine and the US were poised to sign a minerals deal.
As we reported earlier, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko was due to be in Washington on Wednesday to sign the deal.
But a source told Reuters that the US was pushing Ukraine to sign two additional documents as well as the main minerals deal.
The Trump administration urged Ukraine to sign all three documents connected to the deal, but Kyiv felt they were not ready yet, Politico reported. A source told the outlet:
All three documents need to be signed today, but the Ukrainians are trying to reopen terms which have already been agreed upon as part of the package — this will be up to the Ukrainians, as the US is ready to sign.
The US told Svyrydenko not to travel to Washington on Wednesday unless the agreements were finalised, according to the outlet.
US says it is ‘ready to sign’ minerals deal ‘this afternoon’
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said Washington is “ready to sign” a minerals deal with Ukraine.
At a cabinet meeting at the White House, Donald Trump was asked by a reporter about the deal, which he then directed to Bessent.
“Our side is ready to sign,” Bessent said, adding that the Ukrainians had “decided last night to make some last-minute changes”. He added:
We’re sure they will reconsider that, and we are ready to sign the afternoon.
Bessent said “nothing has been removed” from the agreement.
It’s the same agreement that we agreed to on the weekend. No changes on our side.
The announcement of the construction of a new road bridge connecting Russia and North Korea comes after reports that about 600 North Korean troops have been killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine.
North Korea has suffered about 4,700 casualties so far, including injuries and deaths, out of a total deployment of 15,000, South Korean lawmakers said on Wednesday, citing the country’s intelligence agency.
In return for dispatching troops and supplying weapons to Russia, North Korea appears to have received technical assistance on spy satellites, as well as drones and anti-air missiles, they said.
Lee Seong-kweun, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, told reporters:
After six months of participation in the war, the North Korean military has become less inept, and its combat capability has significantly improved as it becomes accustomed to using new weapons such as drones.
On Monday, North Korea confirmed for the first time that it had sent troops to fight for Russia in the war in Ukraine under orders from its leader, Kim Jong-un.
Russia and North Korea have begun construction of a road bridge between the two countries as part of an effort to strengthen their strategic partnership, Russia’s prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, said.
Mishustin announced work had started on the bridge across the Tumnen river while in a video meeting with the chair of North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly, Pak Thae-song, on Wednesday.
“This is a truly a milestone for Russian-Korean relations,” Mishustin said.
It symbolises our common desire to strengthen friendly, good-neighbourly relations and increase inter-regional cooperation.
The bridge is being built near the existing “Friendship Bridge”, a rail bridge which was commissioned in 1959 after the Korean war.
Pak was quoted as saying:
It will become an eternal historical memorial structure symbolising the unbreakable Korean-Russian friendly relations.
Putin says a small number of Ukrainian troops are still holed up in Russia’s Kursk region
Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that some small groups of Ukrainian soldiers were still holed up in basements and hideouts in Russia’s western Kursk region.
Putin earlier this week phoned his top commanders in Kursk to congratulate them on “victory” and the end of their operation to expel Ukrainian forces from the region after a Ukrainian force stormed across the border last August, Reuters reported.
Speaking at an event in Moscow, Putin said radio intercepts suggested that the few Ukrainians left behind were asking commanders to urgently evacuate them to safety.
Ukraine has said that some of its forces are still inside Kursk and in Russia’s nearby Belgorod region.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that he had no doubt that Moscow would sooner or later repair its relations with European countries.
Speaking at a forum in Moscow, Putin said many in Europe share Russia’s position on certain issues.
